


Turning Back Time

by Harry1981



Category: Ant-Man (Movies), Black Panther (2018), Captain America (Movies), Doctor Strange (2016), Guardians of the Galaxy (Movies), Iron Man (Movies), Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017), The Avengers (Marvel Movies), Thor (Movies)
Genre: Angst, F/M, Fix-It, I am so done with all the sad fics, M/M, Post-Avengers: Infinity War Part 1 (Movie), Spoilers, Steve Rogers Needs a Hug, Superfamily(kinda), Time Travel, Tony Stark Needs a Hug, We NEED TO FIX THIS!!
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-04-29
Updated: 2019-04-28
Packaged: 2019-04-29 16:50:49
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,674
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14477028
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Harry1981/pseuds/Harry1981
Summary: No Endgame spoilers, except maybe my notes.Thanos lost because the Avengers were together when he came. But it wasn't always this way and only two members of the team remember what had happened.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Time travel fic written after Infinity war which is now my lifeboat in the post-Endgame world.

 

“Mr Stark! Mr Stark!”

Peter Parker, more commonly known as Spider-Man by the people of America, a mere 22-year-old boy (no he was not a man, he was a precious man-child) ran down the stairs of the Avengers Compound to the workshop of the great Tony Stark, aka Iron Man.

Peter wasn’t running around just for the sake of running. Though Natasha, also known as Black Widow, had given him the task of making seven rounds of the compound. He would do that later.

No, he was running because he had just got a message from outer space, from the Avengers’ fellow friends, the Guardians of the Galaxy that they had decided to come to Earth to rejoice and celebrate the anniversary with friends.

Peter rushed down, passing Bucky Barnes or the White Wolf, earlier known as the Winter Soldier, Sam Wilson or the Falcon and James Rhodes or War machine sparring in the gym. He could see the Barton family having a picnic on the grounds and he was sure he had heard Vision and Wanda scooped up in a corner and Pietro was somewhere nearby, hell-bent on scaring the two love birds. Wouldn't be the first time Wanda would torture her brother.

Peter waved as he crossed Bruce Banner’s lab. The man, whose alter ego was famous as the Hulk, waved back with a smile. Peter crossed Shuri working on the new suits. She and T’Challa had come to the Avengers Compound for the anniversary as well.

He barged into the workshop, a grin on his face.

“Mr Stark!”

The grin wiped off Peter’s face as he realized what he had walked into. He usually saw his mentor tinkering with his suit or maybe, playing with DUM-E. However, it was one of those times he was not so fortunate.

Tony was laying on the table, its components spread all over the floor. His t-shirt was thrown away and his pants were half down to knees. And on top of him was none other than Steve Rogers.

Captain America was also semi-naked, his pants intact but his shirt gone. Peter did not even want to know where his hands were.

“Um-I am, um, sorry?” Peter blushed, before turning around and letting the two men have a moment!

“Damn it, Peter!” Tony shouted, pushing Steve and grabbing his clothes. “You could have asked FRIDAY to warn us!”

“He had been shouting your name for quite some time, Mr Stark,” FRIDAY immediately stated and Peter mumbled thanks to the AI. “I was unable to inform you because you had asked me not to interrupt you and Captain Rogers during your session.”

Steve let out a half chuckle before saying, “You can turn Peter. We are presentable now.”

Peter slowly turned, watching his childhood heroes properly dressed. The image was not going to go away anytime soon. Last time he had walked on those two making out, he was shaken for three weeks.

“Umm, yeah,” Peter slowly ran his hand through his hair. “Well, the Guardians are coming.”

“What?” Tony looked at Peter, “Why?”

“To celebrate the anniversary of Thanos’ defeat!” Peter said excitedly. “All of them are coming-Star Lord, Rocket, Groot, Gamora, Nebula, Mantis and Drax. Thor is already down in the compound with Loki and Jane and I am pretty sure I saw Scott and Hope down there. We have an hour.”

Immediately, Tony’s hand curled into a fist and Steve scooted closer to him.

“Why are they coming here?’ Tony snapped. Peter would have probably been taken aback, but this was the same reaction Tony gave every single anniversary. He had no idea why.

“Tony,” Steve said warningly, before turning to Peter with a smile. “We will be there to greet our guests. Thank you, Peter.”

Peter smiled and walked away. Steve turned to face Tony with a frown.

“Tony, you promised me last year...”

Tony waved his hand, uninterested in Captain America lecture. “Yeah, yeah. But the thing is, these people don’t remember it, Steve, we do. We remember what happened the first time around.  And it still hurts.”

Steve sighed. Yes, he remembered. Yes, it did hurt.

He still remembered how Bucky had turned into dust just in front of him. He remembered how Sam and T’Challa had disappeared along with Groot. He remembered how when Tony had come back with Nebula, he was heartbroken. How he broke down talking about Peter, Spider-Man, who was in high school and had died right in his arms. How he had cried for all the Guardians and Dr Stephen Strange whom he barely knew. 

When Thanos next came to Earth, to flaunt or to do whatever he had wanted to do, Tony stole the Time Stone from him, taking Shuri’s help. Steve, being the responsible person he was, had followed him and that was how they had ended up in 2012, a week before the attack on New York.

Next was a well-laid plan that took them a week to make. The first step was making Loki see light. It wasn’t much hard, once Odin and Frigga themselves had come down to Earth on a very polite request from Steve (and an aggressive one from Tony). Loki did not change- he was the God of Mischief! Why would he change?

But the attack on New York was averted. Odin and Thor took upon themselves to take care of the Gauntlet and Thanos himself.  Thor was asked to contact the Guardians.

Thankfully, it never came to that. It seemed Nebula had come with them. And she was already taking care of things from her side.

As soon as the Loki crisis was averted, Steve and Tony had contacted Fury and had given him a list of all HYDRA members in SHIELD. It wasn’t easy, taking everyone out and trying to get Bucky. But they managed it.

The crisis with Mandarin was averted as Tony knew it all. But he couldn’t go back to how things were with Pepper. It wasn’t her fault-she was trying her best and Tony loved her. But she deserved better. The two remained friends, because he knew now, with everything, he couldn’t have a ‘normal’ life anymore.

The Dark Elves still came, and the crisis at Greenwich could not be averted. But as someone had once said- you cannot save everyone.

When they finally located the sceptre and the Maximoff twins, it was full of confusion. Wanda and Pietro hated Tony and what Wanda showed Tony was a memory-a memory of the future that once was. Before going away with the sceptre, Tony somehow managed to convince Thor to let him put the stone in what he called-Vision.

Ultron never happened, Tony made sure of that.

The Maximoff twins came to Compound, Steve made sure of that.

With an ex-brainwashed assassin and two experiments in the Compound, Steve and Tony made sure that they had their old members back. Scott was still in jail, so no help there. Finding Sam wasn’t hard and convincing him to join the Avengers was even easier. Rhodes jumped at the chance and Tony made sure to keep tabs on Peter as soon as he became Spider-Man.

Extending a hand of friendship towards Wakanda was a great step. King T’Chaka was more than happy to befriend people from the outside world-unlike what happened the first time around.  And once Steve said he was ready to give up his shield as a sign of good faith, well, Wakanda and the Avengers became the best of friends.

 And somewhere along the line of all the events, Steve and Tony fell in Love. It just dawned on the two that they were indeed, in love. Tony felt happy with Steve and Steve felt complete with Tony. With Pepper and Bucky to shove them together, it wasn’t that hard.

Once the activities of Spider-Man became more apparent, Tony and Steve gave him a visit and offered him a chance to train to become an Avenger. Of course, young Peter Parker did not even hesitate to say yes.

By the time the talks of some Accords came up, the Avengers had become a large family. Tony and Steve were the Super husbands, apparently, with Peter as their kid and a scary Aunt Nat, Calm Uncle Bruce, Crazy Uncle Bucky and fun twins Wanda and Pietro. Meanwhile, Clint had moved in with his family. Laura was a sweetheart and so were the kids. Their third kid, as it turned out, was a girl and was named Natasha. Natasha officially dubbed the youngest Barton as a double spy.

Before Secretary Ross could even propose the Accords, Steve and Tony produced an even better treaty. The Avengers would continue to remain a private organization under SHIELD, which stood firm once HYDRA members had been taken care of. While the Government could ask for help and check on them, they could not limit their missions. It was small and simple. All the countries, barring a few, signed the new Accords.

By the time Thanos came to Earth with his ambitious plan, everything was ready. Ant-Man was recruited, with his friend ‘Wasp’ and Hank Pym was back in SHIELD. Stephen Strange was protecting the Stone as Thor and the whole of Asgard had come to Earth. 

Strange had seen one outcome where they would win. Tony was not so sure if this was the one or not.

Unlike last time, they were all on Earth. The Guardians and the Avengers. Like last time, they were divided.

When trying to get the Time Stone from  Strange, Thanos was once again tackled the same way. Except, he did not have the soul stone this time, only the reality and power stone.

They managed to pull the gauntlet from the mad titan's hand and assembling together, somehow, they destroyed it. The gauntlet and the mad Titan.

Once the dust settled, once everything ended the same day it had in the previous timeline, Tony cried. He held on to Steve and cried. And so did Steve. They clutched each other and cried. Nobody understood why- some said it was tears of joy, others believed it to be the exhaustion finally catching up to him.

Nobody knew the real reason.

And that was how in the present day, five years after what was dubbed as the 'Infinity War', Steve found himself trying to soothe Tony down.

He always hated the anniversary. It reminded him of how they had failed the first time around.

“Tony...”

Tony picked up a screwdriver and grunted. “I will be out when they come, all right? Just, just leave me alone for some time.”

Sighing, Steve nodded before exiting the workshop. He needed to make a detour to the gym.

 

 


	2. The Party

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Steve and Tony finally come down to the party, but it's not easy.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So Endgame killed me...I wrote this after seeing the Inifinty War and I still think this version is better. Sue me, but this is my universe now. Loved the final scene when all superheroes are together, but...the ending.  
> So here's a continuation...it's pretty angsty. And I think it is triggering? I don't know.

The party was in full swing. The Avengers-oh, the ever huge group of Avengers were scattered all over the compound. Every single kid was sprawled in front of the TV, playing video games. The ex-soldiers were seated at the bar, laughing and drinking. Everybody was engaged one way or the other when the door opened and the Superhusbands walked in.

"There's my favourite couple!" said Bucky, his voice slightly slurry. "Where were the two of you?"

"Keep talking Barnes and you will never have a new arm."

Bucky pouted, causing Sam and Rhodey to laugh. Steve shook his head, before messing Bucky's short hair. 

"Punk!" Bucky flattened his hair as Steve laughed.

"Jerk."

Tony rolled his eyes before approaching the Pym couple who were seated beside the TV. Cassie Lang shifted to make space and Peter leaned over Tony's leg, continuing to shout at the TV and Shuri who continued to beat him.

It was a nice affair for the longest time. Except for the time when Drax and Korg decided to wrestle and Strange and Tony tried to outwit each other, it was fine.

And then it all went down.

It started when Peter got up to get a drink along with Shuri and T'Challa and Okoye decided to play the game. Tony was sipping on his drink and Steve was sitting beside him, talking to Pietro when T'Challa said to Okoye, "This is no place to die!"

Steve immediately stiffened, looking over at T'Challa when he heard Bucky drunkenly say, "Steve?"

Before Steve could turn, he could vaguely hear Rhodey calling for Sam. In a distance, Rocket was repeating no over and over again while Groot spoke.

Just like that, Steve was back in Wakanda, his breathing heavy. Bucky turned to dust and so did Wanda. Thanos was cackling, and someone was calling him.

"Steve?"

Tony? But Tony was in outer space...he...he...

"Steve, honey. Can you hear me?"

Where was Tony's voice coming from?

"Steve, baby, breathe with me. In and Out, In and out okay?"

Steve was breathing. Yes, in and out. That felt better. What, what was happening?

"You are in upstate New York, Avengers Compound. It's 18th May 2024, 9 p.m. You are safe."

Safe? Yes, he was safe. Tony, Tony was right in front of him. Steve was on the floor-when did he get on the floor? He was, he was talking to Pietro, wasn't he?

"Steve, can you hear me?"

Nodding numbly, Steve grasped Tony's hand as he pulled him up. He was surrounded by people, too many people.

"Is something happening?" Mantis asked.

"Oh man!" said Quill.

"Mr Stark," came Peter's voice from the bar, "I don't feel so good."

"FOR FUCK'S SAKE, SHUT UP! SHUT UP IF YOU CAN'T SAY ANYTHING GOOD! STOP GETTING INTO OUR HEADS! GET OUT!"

Everyone froze as Tony stopped shouting, holding on to Steve as tightly as Steve held on to him. Both looked like they were about to pass out or cry, or perhaps both. Nobody dared to get close enough. If looks could kill, everybody in the room would have turned to dust under Tony's glare.

"Move aside!"

Everyone parted at once at Nebula's voice. She walked forward at once, taking both Steve and Tony and leading them out of the room. Once the door closed behind them, Clint turned to Rhodey and muttered, "What the heck?"

* * *

 

Nebula left Tony and Steve in their rooms as they held on to each other for dear life. FRIDAY informed them that everybody had settled somewhere in the compound as the outburst had left the team worried. They would have to answer them all.

"Do we have to?" Tony asked, resting his head on his hand and laying on the side. "I mean, we are our own people. We are not answerable to anyone."

"But they must be worried, Tony," said Steve, looking at the ceiling. "I mean, we were behaving erratically."

"Excuse me? You were having a panic attack and I was on the verge of having one because of all those idiots. They don't deserve an explanation."

"It's not their fault! They don't know what they did wrong."

"So we tell them what they did wrong?"

Steve snapped his head. "What?"

Tony shrugged. "Let's tell them what they did wrong. It's actually not a bad idea, telling them what happened the first time around. Perhaps then they will understand."

Steve blinked owlishly. "Are you...Are you sure?"

"Yeah. It's about time those idiots know what we went through because of them."

* * *

 

Everyone sat still, their faces pale when Tony and Steve finally stopped talking. Nobody knew what to say.

What could they say to make this better? Nebula, Steve and Tony had gone through hell and back to save every single person in the room.

"Look, we don't want an apology," Tony said, making everyone look up, "it wasn't your fault. We don't want pity, cause that's stupid."

"We just need you to understand that we are very...emotional about certain things," Steve continued, "the things you said last night was horrific. Please, try and not do that again?"

Everyone nodded numbly. The three-time travellers shared a smile before letting the silence take over. It was never going to be perfect, but one day, hopefully, it would get better.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, that was shit. I will try and come back to it when I am not as tired as now.

**Author's Note:**

> So, what do you think? Good? Bad? I would love some ideas.


End file.
